WITCH HUNTING MAKES A COMEBACK IN NEW GUINEA

IF THESE ARE THE WITCH HUNTERS, I'D HATE TO SEE THE WITCHES! STILL, OCCASIONALLY I'LL CATCH A STORY LIKE THIS THAT MAKES OUR RELIGIOUS EXTREMISTS LOOK MUILD BY COMPARISON. OF COURSE, DON' FORGET THE WITCH HUNTER WHO WAS IMPORTED FROM AFRICA TO WASILLA, ALASKA--THE HOME OF THEN MAYOR SARAH PALIN. THERE IS YOURUBE VIDEO OF HIM PRAYING HER INTO HER GOVERNORSHIT.



VIA HUFFPO:

Witch hunts, murder and evil in Papua New Guinea

A tide of torture and killing of innocent women linked to 'sorcery' and the 'dark arts' is overwhelming the nation's police. Ramita Navai, in Port Moresby, reports

Nearly all the residents of Koge watched as Julianna Gene and Kopaku Konia were dragged from their homes, to be hung from trees and tortured for several hours with bush knives. No one came forward to help. In the eyes of the villagers, the women were witches. They deserved to die.

"They used their powers to bewitch a man to death," said Kingsley Sinemane, a community leader. "We had to get rid of them, as they could have killed others. We had to protect our village."

The finger of suspicion fell on the women after a local man died in a car accident. The only sign now of the horror that unfolded in this remote Papua New Guinea village is a black, charred clearing where some dozen homes once stood. Fear of the supernatural and the stigma of being branded a witch is so great that around 30 of the victims' relatives were chased out of the village. Upturned shoes and a few bundles of clothes are all that remain of their former lives. Most of them had nowhere to flee to, as word had spread they were related to so-called witches. They are now forced to live in slums in the nearest town.

MORE: INDEPENDENT